the president being updated on the ongoing efforts to support local preparedness efforts in potentially affected areas. we expect him to call the storm serious and big and slow moving. obviously safety and human life is the most important objective but the impact will not only be environmental, massive flooding, downed trees, damaged homes and businesses, lost power but political as well with only nine days left before the november 6 national elections there could be a direct impact on voting. here are the president's remarks. >> well, good afternoon, everybody. obviously all of us across the country are concerned about the potential impact of hurricane sandy. this is a serious and big storm. and my first message is to all people across the eastern seaboard and mid atlantic going north that you need to take this very seriously and follow the instructions of your state and local officials because they are going to be providing you with the best advice in terms of how to deal with the storm over the coming days. we just had an excellent meeting with the fema team here, the various agencie